The weather conditions from weeks 9 to 12 have led to a later start of the melon and watermelon season in Spain and a more limited supply in the first two months of the season.
"Persistent rains throughout Spain have altered the planting calendar in March and delayed the harvest," says Ángel Cebriá, head of watermelon sales at Anecoop.
"From the beginning of the season until mid-April, there has been a lower watermelon supply than usual. This setback will also prevent open ground watermelon volumes from reaching the usual levels in the first weeks of June, and will also cause a production slump between May and June, which will affect the sector as a whole. However, our forecast is that the season will return to normal towards the end of June, when the crops that were planted after the rainy period in March will come into production."
According to Cebriá, the Almeria season has started with uncertainty and with some problems with the fruit set and quality. "We hope that, from this week onwards, the quality and productivity will again be those of a typical good watermelon season."
"As far as Murcia is concerned, it's still too early to talk about yields, and the supply will be affected by the issues with the planting during the rainy periods in February and March. The weather made field preparation work harder, so productions were delayed until the end of June," he says
Last year, Aneccop marketed 110,000 tons of watermelon, and this year it is expecting to reach 130,000 tons, which entails an 18% increase. "We hope that the weather will be favorable and that we will be able to achieve our goals," says Cebriá.
To ensure a good watermelon supply throughout the entire season, Anecoop relies on all Spanish growing areas, from Almeria and Castile-La Mancha to Murcia, Valencia, and Seville. "For the current season, we expect growth in Almeria, Murcia, Western Andalusia, and the Valencian Community, and with the crops from La Mancha, we can keep the supply going until September," says Anecoop's head of watermelon sales.
Regarding the development of sales this season, Cebriá says that so far, market demand in April has not matched the supply, despite this being lower than in a normal season.
"As the season develops and temperatures rise throughout Europe, we are convinced that melon and watermelon consumption will be stimulated and retail programs, which are key to successfully completing the season, will be sufficiently activated," he says.
Anecoop produces and sells striped, black and yellow watermelons and mini watermelons, available seedless, with micro-seeds and also with seeds.
"Our line of Bouquet watermelons includes the red striped seedless watermelon, a product with remarkable features in terms of quality and adaptability in the field that has allowed it to become the preferred choice both by growers and the market. The range also features yellow-fleshed mini watermelons, which are especially popular in northern European countries, as well as the black-skinned, red-fleshed watermelon. Also, since last year, we have been working on an orange-fleshed watermelon, although we are still in the test phase with that one," says Cebriá.
"In recent years, the trend for the entire sector has been for watermelon cultivation to gain ground on melons. In Anecoop's case, this year's melon sales are expected to reach around 20,000 tons," says Ángel Cebriá.
For more information: www.anecoop.com